Speaker Bios

Raphael Mokades

Founder and Managing Director

Raphael founded Rare in 2005. Today, Rare works with over 100 elite employers including all five Magic Circle law firms, the top three global strategy consulting firms, two of the world’s top three investment banks, and the universities of Oxford and Cambridge.

Rare has over 40,000 candidates on its books, and its contextualised recruitment software has processed over a million graduate job applications.

Raphael has a first-class degree from Oxford University. He has written for the Guardian, Times and Financial Times. He has been named in the Economist’s Top 50 Global Diversity List, the FT’s Empower Top 100 Ethnic Minority Executives list, and as Legal Week’s Outstanding Innovator.

Chetan Halai

Product Director

Chetan worked on candidate management, account management, then business development before moving into product development for Rare. His first role was on L’Oréal’s Marketing Graduate scheme as a Rare candidate, where he cut his teeth in digital marketing for global brands including Urban Decay, Viktor & Rolf and Diesel Fragrances.

Chetan is currently responsible for overseeing the development of our award-winning software products, and has been instrumental in bringing the pioneering Candid ATS and Vantage to life. He serves as a Trustee for two charities: Yog Foundation (a community based charity) and Initiatives of Change UK, and nurtures a passion for photography and Indian Classical music.

Naomi Kellman

Head of Research

Naomi Kellman FRSA studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Oxford.

On graduating in 2011, she joined diversity specialist Rare. In this role she founded Target Oxbridge, a programme that has helped over 400 Black African and Caribbean students secure Oxbridge offers, and currently supports hundreds of students a year.

Naomi spent 2012 to 2015 working on education policy at the Department for Education and the Treasury, and served three years as a secondary school governor.

Naomi has co-founded the BAME Fast Stream Network and the Oxford Black Alumni Network, and has made appearances on BBC News, Channel 5 News, ITV News and Sky News to discuss diversity in education and recruitment.

She is Rare’s Head of Research, a Trustee for The PRIME Commitment, and a member of University of Oxford History Faculty’s External Advisory Panel.